A Coronation Street extra has been fired for calling some of the stars of the soap "rubbish" in a radio interview.

Spencer May's contract was terminated after he called in to Jeremy Vine’s Radio 2 show hours before the live anniversary episode in December and said that some of the actors had been "rubbish" during rehearsal.

"I was on my way to appear in the live episode to play a tram crash survivor," he told the Manchester Evening News. "I heard Coronation Street was being discussed on Jeremy Vine. I just picked up the phone and got straight through. It was a bit stupid really.

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"But when you are on the phone with millions of people listening, you feel the pressure to say something interesting. I just blurted out that some of the actors were quite good but others were rubbish.

"I realise now it was a bit cheeky. I just got carried away. However, it is true to say that some of the cast members are more popular than others. People like William Roache are proper gentlemen and treat extras and crew equally, whereas others aren’t quite as good."

A Granada TV spokesman said: "Mr May was in breach of contract. It is an unfortunate situation."